Mother with brain tumor: 'My life is beautiful, even if it stops today'

Catherine Neal, back left, is battling a stage IV glioblastoma multiforme tumor. Family members and friends are hosting a fundraiser to help the mother of six and her husband, Hicks Neal.(Photo: Submitted)

For Catherine Neal, the words that followed were even more traumatic. Dr. Allen K. Sills Jr., a neurosurgeon at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the NFL’s new chief medical officer, called the mother of six with the news.

“He said, ‘Catherine … I am so sorry to share the news over the phone but it couldn’t wait with this diagnosis. You have an aggressive tumor. It’s a glioblastoma,' ” she explained, her speech slowed from weeks of treatments.

Now the executive aide for MTSU’s Department of Theater and Dance is facing the fight of, and for, her life.

“I’m preparing myself to fight this battle with all that’s within me,” Catherine wrote in a Tumblr blog, “Fewer Chapters — A Whole Lot of Love.”

Fundraiser set

Friends and family are rallying around her, too. Award-winning singer-songwriter Tim James will be joined by fellow musicians for a night of fundraising starting at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at The Alley on Main, 224 W. Main St.

Proceeds of the $100 ticket sales will help the family as they travel to Duke University’s Tisch Brain Tumor Center, where she seeks cutting-edge treatment.

“Going to Duke is about giving her the absolute best chance to extend the game … capture lightning in a bottle,” said Hicks Neal, whose wife was diagnosed the first Friday in May with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the same type of cancer Sen. John McCain has. He also is being treated in Durham, N.C.

A cancer expert says Sen. John McCain has an "aggressive" form of brain cancer that will be difficult to treat. Dr. David Reardon at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute says glioblastoma is the most common type of brain cancer in adults. (July 20)
AP

Prognosis for this disease is grim, but it’s treatable. Catherine is seeking additional therapeutic options, including immunology-based therapies. Her Duke neuro-oncologist headed the poliovirus trial, which was highlighted on '60 Minutes' more than two years ago, Hicks noted.

“I am the mom of six children and I’m determined to buy time and allow technology to catch up (with GBM), so I’ll have a chance one day to hold my grandchildren,” said Catherine, a native of Brussels, who met her husband while they were both working in Washington, D.C.

How it began

Problems were detected in mid-2016, when blood clots were discovered: two in her right calf, one in her left calf, one in her right lung, and another in a vessel exiting the lower left side of Catherine’s cranium.

“We were blown away,” Hicks said.

But by mid-January, she was given the “all clear” and life seemingly returned to normal. Hicks recalled when the family realized things were far from normal on a February Saturday night at home.

“My wife had back-to-back seizures, and she only spoke French, in brusk staccato style, not anything like her natural voice,” the Murfreesboro native said.

At two area hospitals, neurologists told the Neals a scan detected what might be a type of tumor that is benign 90 percent of the time.

Seven weeks later, an MRI revealed a potentially lethal tumor on top of Catherine’s left temporal lobe, which controls the very sensitive area of speech with emotion and memory.

For a woman who’s fluent in four languages, the implications of a tumor affecting that area have been devastating.

“I’m thankful for my fulfilled life, genuinely. I love my life.”

Catherine Neal, mother with brain tumor

The neurosurgeon removed more than 95 percent of the tumor right up to the membrane along her center of speech. Radiation and chemotherapy followed. While Catherine has retained her ability to speak, the tumor and subsequent treatments have caused aphasia, which affects her recall and speech.

Although she’s on medical leave, her students and peers at MTSU are still in contact with her. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with expenses and give Hicks and the children the ability to be with Catherine during a long road of treatment — the immediate six to 12 months.

She loves the cards people have sent and messages from dear friends and acquaintances. Still, her heart is heavy that students, who affectionately call her “Mama Cat,” are putting in an extra shift, giving of their meager incomes to help her.

But Catherine said she is not afraid or mad at what is happening to her, and knows "God has a plan."

'I'm so blessed'

“I’m just sad. I don’t know if I’m going to die. ... But if I die, I’m not mad for my life to be over,” she said, huge tears streaming down her face. “I’m thankful for my fulfilled life, genuinely. I love my life. I love my community ... I had so much love that I could’ve lived a million lives and never felt what I have now … from my university, MTSU, my students, my Murfreesboro, my children, my husband. My life is beautiful, even if it stops today."

Even if the end is sooner rather than later, she's grateful for what she's been given.

“I have so much more than anyone else has ever had, and I want people to know that if I could have picked a book of life, I would still choose the same. I’m so blessed. I will fight for life," Catherine said, her voice slow but steady. "But if I don’t make it, then I ask my husband to continue the legacy I want to see in our children. They must return the love I have received.”

Reach Nancy De Gennaro at degennaro@dnj.com or 615-278-5148 and on Twitter @NanDeGennaro.

Republic reporters explain what glioblastoma is and what it means for Sen. John McCain.

If you go

Hit singer-songwriters Tim James and Rivers Rutherford will host a benefit concert at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at The Alley on Main, 224 W. Main St. in Murfreesboro. Proceeds from the $100 ticket price will benefit Cat Neal, a local mother of six who has been diagnosed with brain cancer. To reserve tickets, email Trungee@aol.com. If you can't make the concert, you can donate at gofundme.com/catneal.

How you can help

Donate to the Neal family's GoFundMe at gofundme.com/catneal. Funds will help the family be together as the mother of six undergoes treatment at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. You also can send get-well cards to Catherine Neal at 2505 Middle Tennessee Blvd., Murfreesboro, TN 37130.